A Week Away Camping in Cowes, Isle of Wight

Back in August (which feels like so long ago now!) we headed across to the Isle of Wight for a week away in our camper van. We always go to the Isle of Wight for Cowes Week, but this time we planned a longer trip away, with more time to explore the island.

We caught the 3am ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne – which, yes, is SO early, but so much cheaper! Tired and ready for our holiday, we arrived at the campsite just after 4am and had one of the best naps in the van before setting up camp.

We set up our camp in the glorious sunshine at Comforts Farm, which is where we stayed last year – and we’d highly recommend visiting visiting there if you’re looking for a good campsite near Cowes.

Our set up, as always, centers around our Sheltapod – and we couldn’t be happier with our awning!

For our first evening away, we walked into Cowes for dinner (as a pre-birthday treat). We met our friends Bex and Henry (see Bex’s blog here) for dinner at Coast Bar & Dining Room for an excellent meal in the courtyard.

Isn’t it just the most beautiful spot for dinner?

The next morning brought more sunshine – which was perfect as it was my birthday! After a leisurely morning, we headed to our favourite spot on the island for lunch, The Folly Inn.

The Folly is in East Cowes, with fantastic views over the water, and a great outdoor seating area. I chose my favourite dish for lunch, the seabass and scallop risotto – which was excellent as always!

Tom opted for a large platter of fried goodness, with fries and garlic bread – which looked just so tasty!

After lunch we headed for a stroll along the water to Island Harbour Marina – and it was just so hot! It’s hard to imagine that just over a month ago we were in the midst of a heatwave… but I digress. The views along the water were just so beautiful!

One of our favourite things to do is to have a snoop around other marinas, looking at boats – which is just what we did at Island Harbour. We even spotted an RNLI hovercraft in for some work!

As well as the old Ryde chain ferry – which was an odd sight on the side of the river!

We spend the rest of the day relaxing at the campsite, enjoying the sun and perhaps napping a little!

The next day we headed back to East Cowes, this time for lunch at The Lifeboat – another of our favourite spots, and a great spot for watching boats go by!

After a long (long!) lunch at The Lifeboat, we headed back to the campsite stopping off at Gurnard on the way – and as it turns out, Gurnard is beautiful!

(And the water wasn’t even that cold!)

You really can’t beat sunsets while you’e camping!

Cowes is our favourite place to visit on the Isle of Wight (if you couldn’t already tell) so we spent a couple more days there while we were away. We spent a day watching the racing, shopping and eating in Cowes – which is a fantastic combination if you ask me!

To be honest, I don’t really know how the racing works – I just like watching them all go by!

We always visit Tiffins when we’re in Cowes – and this holiday was no exception! Their yogurt shakes are amazing, as well as their smoothies – perfect for a hot day!

Our final day in Cowes was a very wet day, which was a little inconvenient as we needed to pack away our Sheltapod. We had a 1am Ferry to catch that evening, so we went back to Cowes for the day to spend our last day in our favourite place – while also attempting to avoid the rain!

As you can see, we were’t very successful in hiding from the rain! In face, we got so wet that there were puddles in our shoes, and we were soaked completely through… so the only remedy for being so very wet was a McDonalds and sitting in the van with the heater on.

Friday night at Cowes Week is always fireworks night, and the evening I always look forward to. We like to watch the fireworks from East Cowes Marina, where you have the best (unobstructed) view over the water.

Isn’t it beautiful?

And that wraps up our time in Cowes! I realise this has been a very long, photo heavy post – but I hope you enjoyed this insight into our holiday!

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